Yet another (delicious) pizza recipe!

 Pizza is an all-time and everybody favorite in our house! I'm sure that must be true for most houses. DH and I are always looking for new pizza recipes to try. So when I saw this recipe for Crispy Cheese Pan Pizza I knew what we were going to make that weekend! This recipe does require you to plan-ahead; at least 24 hours in advance. The more the merrier!

We made two different pizzas from this recipe. I made 1.5 times the dough per the recipe and then used 1 part to make the pan pizza and the rest to make a regular pizza. While both were delicious, I liked the regular pizza more - look at that crust! Crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside! The pan pizza was yummy too although I liked it as a bread.

The below recipe (quantity) is for making one pan pizza. Half of that quantity will give you one regular pizza.

Crust 

• 2 cups (240g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup (170g) lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon (13g) olive oil + 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) olive oil for the pan

Topping

• 6 ounces (170g) mozzarella, grated (about 1 1/4 cups, loosely packed)*
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup (74g to 113g) tomato sauce or pizza sauce, (we use tomato puree of san Marzano tomatoes and add a little bit of Italian seasoning to it)
• freshly grated hard cheese and fresh herbs for sprinkling on top after baking, optional*

Method

1. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.  
2. Place the flour, salt, yeast, water, and 1 tablespoon (13g) of the olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer or other medium-large mixing bowl.
   
3. Stir everything together to make a shaggy, sticky mass of dough with no dry patches of flour. This should take 30 to 45 seconds in a mixer using the beater paddle; or about 1 minute by hand, using a spoon or spatula. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to gather the dough into a rough ball; cover the bowl.
   
4. After 5 minutes, uncover the bowl and reach a bowl scraper or your wet hand down between the side of the bowl and the dough, as though you were going to lift the dough out. Instead of lifting, stretch the bottom of the dough up and over its top. Repeat three more times, turning the bowl 90° each time. This process of four stretches, which takes the place of kneading, is called a fold. 
   
5. Re-cover the bowl, and after 5 minutes do another fold. Wait 5 minutes and repeat; then another 5 minutes, and do a fourth and final fold. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest, undisturbed, for 40 minutes. Then refrigerate it for a minimum of 12 hours, or up to 72 hours. It'll rise slowly as it chills, developing flavor; this long rise will also add flexibility to your schedule.
6. About 3 hours before you want to serve your pizza, prepare your pan. 

For Pan Pizza

1. Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) olive oil into a well-seasoned cast iron skillet that’s 10” to 11” diameter across the top, and about 9” across the bottom. Heavy, dark cast iron will give you a superb crust; but if you don’t have it, use another oven-safe heavy-bottomed skillet of similar size, or a 10” round cake pan or 9” square pan. Tilt the pan to spread the oil across the bottom, and use your fingers or a paper towel to spread some oil up the edges, as well.  
2. Transfer the dough to the pan and turn it once to coat both sides with the oil. After coating the dough in oil, press the dough to the edges of the pan, dimpling it using the tips of your fingers in the process. The dough may start to resist and shrink back; that’s OK, just cover it and let it rest for about 15 minutes, then repeat the dimpling/pressing. At this point the dough should reach the edges of the pan; if it doesn’t, give it one more 15-minute rest before dimpling/pressing a third and final time. 
   
3. Cover the crust and let it rise for 2 hours at room temperature. The fully risen dough will look soft and pillowy and will jiggle when you gently shake the pan.
4. About 30 minutes before baking, place one rack at the bottom of the oven and one toward the top (about 4" to 5" from the top heating element). Preheat the oven to 450°F.
5. When you’re ready to bake the pizza, sprinkle about three-quarters of the mozzarella (a scant 1 cup) evenly over the crust. Cover the entire crust, no bare dough showing; this will yield caramelized edges. Dollop small spoonfuls of the sauce over the cheese; laying the cheese down first like this will prevent the sauce from seeping into the crust and making it soggy. Sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella.
   
6. Bake the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the bottom and edges of the crust are a rich golden brown (use a spatula to check the bottom). If the bottom is brown but the top still seems pale, transfer the pizza to the top rack and bake for 2 to 4 minutes longer. On the other hand, if the top seems fine but the bottom's not browned to your liking, leave the pizza on the bottom rack for another 2 to 4 minutes. Home ovens can vary a lot, so use the visual cues and your own preferences to gauge when you’ve achieved the perfect bake.
7. Remove the pizza from the oven and place the pan on a heatproof surface. Carefully run a table knife or spatula between the edge of the pizza and side of the pan to prevent the cheese from sticking as it cools. Let the pizza cool very briefly; as soon as you feel comfortable doing so, carefully transfer it from the pan to a cooling rack or cutting surface. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy.
   
8. Serve the pizza anywhere from medium-hot to warm. Kitchen shears or a large pair of household scissors are both good tools for cutting this thick pizza into wedges.  

For Regular pizza

1. Oil a cast iron skillet. Using your hands press the dough to cover the skillet. Cover and let rise for 3 hours.
2. After the rise let's get the pizza ready for baking. For the regular pizza we did the opposite of what is suggested for the pan pizza. We spread the sauce first and then the cheese.
3. We didn't add too many veggies as the original recipe warned against using raw veggies as it might make the pizza soggy.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
5. Once done, we did spread it generously with basil. It was just so yummy!

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

 Author: Gail Honeyman

Loved reading this book! 

Eleanor will strike most as an odd woman. Everything in her life is calculated, scheduled and organized. She has never taken a day off from her work. She does not talk to anybody unless she needs to - which doesn't happen often. That means after she goes home from work on Fridays she spends close to 72 hours without having spoken to anybody. She has never eaten a pizza except from the supermarket. There is good reason behind all of this.

All that is about to change as she bumps across Raymond, the IT guy at work and at the same time has a crush on a local singer. The latter, while not very productive in itself, motivates her to go out of her comfort zone and also talk to Raymond on things not related to work. As she ventures into areas which she hasn't explored before - like getting a new hairstyle or using a personal shopping assistant to select an outfit that suits her the most - she discovers new things. She finds out that she too can get compliments. That it feels good to get compliments. That she too can be a source of information and people are coming to her to ask where she got her hair done. 

On the other hand without realizing she's fostering a friendship with Raymond. It all starts when they both save Sammy, an elderly gentleman. As their relationship develops, there are so many emotions that she experiences for the first time and it makes her realize what she was missing in her life.

Everything was going well when suddenly her world falls apart. But there is much to learn there as well.

At every step Eleanor's willingness to change and learn is so inspiring! The book is full of good humor. After the first few pages itself, you can figure out that the book is written by a British author. The language is so beautiful and expressive. A good break from the conversational English that abounds in books these days.

Vanilla cake with strawberry frosting

Made this cake for hubby's birthday and it was quite a favorite! It was moist and just rightly sweet. The recipe for the cake is from my trusted source KAF and for the frosting is from here. I felt the frosting could have been a little less sweet - it could be that our strawberries were very sweet. Will try to lower the amount of sugar next time. Even then it tasted awesome!

For the cake

Ingredients

2 cups (241g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour   

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (397g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (14g) vanilla extract
• 1 cup (227g) milk (used 2%)
• 4 tablespoons (57g) butter, cut into pats
• 1/3 cup (67g) vegetable oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. The recipe calls for using round pans. I didn't have two round pans of the same size. I used one 9x13 pan and then divided the cake into two so that I had two layers.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thickened and light gold in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. The batter should fall in thick ribbons from the beaters, whisk, or paddle.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in the bowl and mix — by hand or on low speed of a mixer — just enough to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix again briefly, to fully incorporate any residual flour or sticky bits.
5. In a saucepan set over medium heat or in the microwave, bring the milk just to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and oil, stirring by hand until the butter has melted.
6. Slowly mix the hot milk-butter-oil mixture into the batter, stirring on low speed of a mixer until everything is well combined. Scrape the bowl and mix briefly, just until smooth.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-48 minutes.

For the frosting

The frosting was a tad less for this size of the cake but still manageable. Increasing it by 10-20% would probably help.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp water, if needed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Puree the strawberries.
2. Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium hear. Allow the mixture to boil, stirring consistently to avoid burning. Reduce to almost half the quantity.
3. Cool the mixture.
4. Add butter to a large bowl and beat until smooth.
5. Add about half the sugar and beat till well combined.
6. Add the vanilla extract and the remaining powdered sugar until smooth.
7. Add additional milk, if required, to reach desired consistency.

Hershey's perfectly chocolate cake

For mother's day, kids and I did some baking. Since all three of us like chocolate cake I thought to try out this recipe. It was simple (important when baking with kids) and delicious! We baked it in a loaf pan. It was delicious!

For the cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 3/4 cupHERSHEY'S Cocoa 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup milk 
• 1/2 cupvegetable oil 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 cup boiling water

Method:

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and Vanilla.
4. Beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
6. Pour batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes clean.
8. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and then frost.

For the frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency
3. Add small amount of additional milk if needed.
4. Stir in vanilla

Creamy (vegan) cauliflower soup

I saw this recipe in Vegan For Everybody. It looked pretty good and the ingredients seemed pretty accessible. So I gave it a try. I modified the recipe a little to make it simpler as well as to suit the ingredients I had on hand. The soup was healthy and delicious! A great way for kids to get their share of vegetables!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
• 3 tsp oil
• 3/4-1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 tsp ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp kitchen king
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup coconut milk (canned)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• Salt to taste
• chopped cilantro, for garnishing

Note: The size of the chopped vegetables doesn't really matter because everything will be blended together.

Method:

1. Heat the oil on medium heat in a dutch oven or big pan.
2. Add onion and salt; and sauté till onion is translucent.
3. Add ginger and kitchen king. Sauté for a minute.
4. Add cauliflower and water. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer till the cauliflower is cooked.
6. Blend in a blender till smooth.
7. Add the puree back to the pan and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
8. Add coconut milk and lime juice. Mix.
9. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Gozleme - a Turkish appetizer

I tried this Turkish recipe. Not sure why it came up in my YouTube feed but looks like it was there for a reason :) We ate it with hot sauce and ketchup - it was very delicious! What I liked about it - didn't take too long to make it and is not deep fried (although it does have cheese).

Here's the recipe:


Ingredients:

For the dough
160g all purpose flour
80ml water
Salt to taste

For the filling
1 bunch Spinach
1/2 cup chopped Onion
1/2-3/4 cup Feta cheese
1-2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Method

1. Mix the flour, salt and water; and knead. After the dough had come together, knead for another 5 minutes. The dough will be smooth and springy.
2. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté the onion till translucent.
4. Add the spinach and salt; and cook till wilted; and the filling is not too wet.
5. Cool the filling.
6. In the meantime, let's make the outer wrap.
7. Divide the dough into 4. Take each portion and form a ball out of it.
8. Roll it out to around 10" - the wrap will be almost translucent. You will almost be able to see the surface below the wrap.
9. Put some of the prepared filling on the wrap. Add feta cheese. Wrap it up like a parcel.
10. Heat a griddle on medium heat. Cook the wrap on one side. Then flip and cook on the other side.

Of course I haven't tasted the real dish but was very happy how this turned out. The original recipe calls out brushing the wrap with butter after cooking it. We liked it without butter,

How to choose a daycare for your child?

When we were looking for a daycare for our kids I was thinking to myself - why do people sweat so much about which daycare to choose. All little ones need is to eat, sleep and play! Well, turns out that's not so true. Yes they need the three basic things - food, sleep and play - and some more. If I were to choose a daycare again below are the factors I would consider; and this is not to say that everyone should consider these. Each of us are different and every child is different. Your priorities and your child's need would determine what factors you need to look at. As you read through these, you can see if it is something that you would care for.

1. Location: it was important to us that the daycare be close to our home so that either of us could drop/pick the kids from daycare. We are very glad that we did that. Time and again it has proved so beneficial to have it close-by. We don't have to sit in traffic and spend that time with the kids instead.
2. Teacher retention: this is a big problem that plagues daycares - it's very difficult to retain teachers. So why does it matter if there's high attrition? It matters more than you think to your child. It takes time for kids to feel safe and secure with a teacher, once they do they only like to be with that teacher. If they get a new teacher, they have a very hard time. Even if it's for one day.
3. Qualification of the teachers: it is good to have teachers who are qualified for the job. While it seems obvious that for any job you want people who are qualified for it, here's why this is important and not so obvious. Some people might think anybody can take care of kids. Yes and no. Yes they can take care of kids but not every one can make your child learn. Be it learning the alphabets, table manners, discipline, social behavior and so on. You want somebody who, when your child is misbehaving, can do more than just ask them not to do it. Who can help the child understand what they did wrong and what they can do better. Who also tries to understand where the child is coming from - which is the most important factor to help a child discipline. If disciplining your child is not high on your list, then I wouldn't worry about the qualification of the teachers all that much.
4. Quality of food: some daycares have their own kitchen, some don't. Of those that have, some always serve healthy choices and made from scratch food, other don't. Some even ensure most of their food is organic. For us, having healthy food is very important. The daycare we picked does not serve sugary cereals, hardly any processed food and serves whole grain options. That was important for us as not only do kids spend half their day there but they also learn all the habits from there. They like the food that is served there so that food better be healthy.
5. Curriculum: having a pre-defined curriculum helps. I'm always surprised at all the different topics they introduce to the kids every so often. The various activities that they do around each of these topics. Kids learn from their teachers the most. You could be teaching the same values at home but the moment the teachers teach that value - that is all they will be talking about.
6. Talk to the director: you should definitely talk to the director to see if the values that you want for your child jives with vision that the director has for their daycare. It will also give you an insight into how committed/dedicated the director is towards their center. That is one person who can make or break a daycare.
7. Outdoor playing area: again this is personal preference. We wanted our kids to have enough outdoor playing area so they could stretch themselves. Not just the area, but the schedule should also make sure that the kids get enough time to play outside.

You will find lots of articles and books that will talk about this topic. Some of the often mentioned factors listed in those like safety etc have not been listed above. I feel that might be concerns for a home based daycare, but if its a center based daycare with all the certification etc they would be conforming to the security/safety codes. Also, in my personal experience even after touring a few daycares I couldn't say whether one was secure or not. They all looked good enough to me - it could be that they were.

At the end of it, you need to decide what are the things that are most important to you and look for a daycare that satisfies those.

Also, once you do put your child into a daycare and have any concerns always raise them with the teacher/director. If you think your concerns are not being entertained then it is not the right daycare for you.